Shower leak found - i think...

[cvin]

A few of times i noticed just a little bit of water at the bottom of the wall next to the frig that is next to the bathroom/shower wall

Since i noticed more often and more water when the trailer was a little nose high for any reason i suspected the corners of the tub area because it was not caulked and looked like it should be
but did some searches here on shower leaks and it says the lip should be high enough this is not an issue...

So figured it must be the faucet connections or drain

Of course they put a 2x4 directly in front of the tub access panel so you cannot see great...
But i pulled that and the faucets out and ran the water in the tub, sink ,shut the shower hose off thinking maybe the back pressure from that and could find nothing
Everything seemed dry

Just ran the shower hose up on the walls/lip area and now see it leaking about halfway down the side of the tub
I dont see any cracks in the tub part and the trailer is a 2015- it also looks like it is coming down from the side as best i can tell- like it is somehow getting over the lip
The trailer is levelled right now

Will get some caulk tonite and do that, see if it stops the leak
Maybe they did not put the shower top down far enough or maybe the lip has a crack behind there i cannot see but pretty sure on mine this is the issue...

Will update this if i have no more leaks etc

Maybe this will help someone else

[sourdough]

Thanks cvin. Your experiences and telling us about them go a long way in making this forum one of the best out there.

[cvin]

updating this i do not think this is going to work
finally got back to the trailer and tried to seal this today

the gaps are too big and the top and bottom of the shower are too flexible
some of the gaps are so big i was able to push the sealant up behind the top piece and get the top to "glue" tighter to the back, those areas may work....

doubting the silicone stuff wont crack from the flexing
but going to let it cure 24 hours and see what happens

not sure how this is supposed to be resolved
the top of the shower was not evenly pushed down when it was mounted in there

if this does not work, will have my plumber look at it and see what he thinks

if when installing these they caulked that and put more of those big holder screws into the walls it would be a lot more solid...
the one "screw" holding the top piece to the back wall is not centered well or something, there is a lot of bulge to the sides of that screw

going to do some video searches now, maybe some of the other trailers are put together different or with a better design..

surprised more people are not running into this

[cvin]

so after doing some video searches all the showers i saw had several of the big round holders/screws at the bottom

mine has 4 across the top to one on the bottom??? not sure if this has anything to do with the leak
it certainly does not make for a solid build

do think if i could put more screws in the bottom that it could be caulked and be fine, that it would seal up

may have my plumber look at it anyway

will update this as i work on it

if anyone else has suggestions i am all ears

[JRTJH]

Trailers are built to flex. As the trailer travels down the road the walls move differently than the floor, the tub moves differently from the shower surround, the shower door moves differently than the wall it's attached to and the ceiling moves differently than the trailer wall.

All of that movement has to be considered when you try to "glue things down in one position. I'm thinking that you might have some settling of the tub which increased the gap between the tub lip and the shower surround bottom. Why there was settling? Who knows, maybe compacted sandwich flooring, maybe wet floor that's decomposing, maybe just luck (or bad luck). I'd be very cautious about making things "one piece". You may find that the next time you tow it, there's a big crack in the back wall of the shower or the whole thing is pulled off the wall.

Think things through before you make permanent pieces of a flexible installation......

[IRV2]

Not sure if this will help but we had noticed on our new 5er that the silicon on the bottom track wasn't sealed with silicon all the way to the wall. We finished what they should have and now no more leak in the corner. I don't know if you could use eternabond tape? in your situation. That stuff can be used for all types of leaks. Maybe post a pic of the area your trying to fix.

[cvin]

mine appears to be leaking where the tub pan connects to the top shower wall part- in theory it should not leak here because the lip of the tub should come up high enough to stop it, but mine seems to be

i already caulked it and will have to see how it does..

will have my plumber come look at it if this does not work

worried we will have to pull the whole top and bottom out to do anything else, what a hassle

[Tinner12002]

Originally Posted by cvin

mine appears to be leaking where the tub pan connects to the top shower wall part- in theory it should not leak here because the lip of the tub should come up high enough to stop it, but mine seems to be

i already caulked it and will have to see how it does..

will have my plumber come look at it if this does not work

worried we will have to pull the whole top and bottom out to do anything else, what a hassle

Just a thought, your shower head could be leaking and running down the wall and possibly coming in around the joint at the tub base and surround. Could even be running around the tub to that leaking spot if there is a small gap there and nowhere else even if shower head is on opposite end of tub. As you said, I don't think that water will get through that joint where the two meet unless its coming from up above the joint somewhere.

[cvin]

i dont have a shower head up high, it is part of the knobs to turn it on and off, i had that out and ran it with the shower hose on and off and no leak

the caulking cracked immediately which i expected

not sure what to think other than i am aggravated with this piece of crap trailer, way too many repairs and big ones for something just hitting 3 years old

and the fact that all of them are like this doesnt excuse the lousy builds and quality control

i would have gladly paid double the price on this trailer to not deal with this mess, this is what i get for wanting the only stupid front load toy hauler on the market- junk

am guessing either the lip is cracked somewhere we cannot see it and/or the tub was installed not well supported and not in line with the top so the water is getting over the lip....

sure we are going to end up removing the entire shower and redoing it all
reinforcing the support for the tub and lining it up correctly
this is RIDICULOUS

going to have to rearrange my entire work schedule and spend 300-400 or more fixing this mess

and i plan to spend the rest of the day trying to get plastic on the windows in the bed slide because they are so unbelievably drafty

the only good thing i can say about owning this trailer is all the stuff i have learned not to do and how to do way better when i build my next one out of a regular metal cargo trailer

[cvin]

just to keep this updated so hopefully it helps someone else in the future

went to ace and got plastic sheeting and duct tape, taped this about 2/3 of the way up and down to the bottom of the tub to stop any water from getting to that tub/wall top part seam

no leak, totally dry underneath

my original tests indicated this but i want to be doubly sure before we dismantle the entire shower

no doubt this is the worst thing it could be out of all scenarios lol

trying to get the plumber scheduled for a day to take this all apart

will update with what the repair required next week, when i hopefully have it fixed

[cvin]

update

well i dont know if it is fixed but we worked on it

2 days and $450 later the shower/tub was completely removed
tub reinforced since we had it apart
and tub was caulked to the wall and top part is caulked to the tub
lots of strong double sided tape added to the back of the top part too

at one of the 7 rv part/ace/home depot/lowes runs i made today spoke with the guy at a rv repair shop about how the shower should be repaired

he said the tub should be caulked to the wall and the top part caulked to the tub..
that is how they do them

that is how it is now but i am waiting on the caulking to dry until tomorrow nite before i try it

the tub on mine has about a 1 inch lip, nothing in the tub was caulked to the wall at all....
according to the guy at the shop it should have been- although sometimes they use tape at the factory i guess-- he said it depends on how rushed they are putting it together
what a joke

the tub support was not great but not flexing a lot and we dont think that was a problem, but it is very well supported now

no cracks in the tub or top piece




tips for anyone doing this

make sure you have the CORRECT color AND style for the plastic holders that attach everything to the wall

mine was put together with something called christmas trees..
both rv shops said that is not how showers are put together , that the christmas trees are used for other stuff, trim or something..

so they gave me some other fasteners

2 things to note here
any of the fasteners whether xmas tree or the others come in 2-3 light colored shades- make sure that you get the correct ones- and this is very hard to tell in the part store when it is not up against the actual tub etc

i was actually given 2 different colors accidently today and had to go back, i did not catch it because inside the part store they looked the same
wasnt until we got all the way back that we realized they were 2 different colors

we tried to use the other fasteners on my shower and they would not work on sections of it because of the way it is made

so probably if you have the xmas tree type get those, the others may not work

you would think the xmas tree things would be easy to find, but no
i still do not have all the correct ones, may try camping world tomorrow and see if they have them
neither of the 2 rv parts places i went to today had them in any color

this was not a fun job and i hope others dont have to do it

will try to post some pics of the xmas tree part and the other fastener tomorrow nite

[cvin]

forgot to add in the post above that you could easily see where the water was leaking down the back of the tub on the long wall about halfway down
it had to be getting over the lip there

exactly like what it looked like underneath

[JimQ]

Sorry you are dealing with this. Your detailed description of your findings and observations may help others down the road. Hopefully you'll get it all repaired soon. Thanks for your postings and hang in there!

[cvin]

Thanks Jim

Will use it for the first time tonite...

I hope nobody else has to rebuild their shower/tub on a 3 year old trailer lol

think this may be an easy leak to miss if the back shower wall is up against something else
Dont think it leaked much but i would not see it at all unless the trailer was sitting off enough for it to roll down toward the passenger side of the trailer

Chances are it leaked more than i saw it , although dont think it was huge leaks

But i also live in az where it is very dry and sure it dried quickly and caused less damage here

People with access panels should periodically check under there

All this will be good for the next owner since everything i have repaired on the trailer has been done 3 times as well as it originally was...
Lol

[chuckster57]

I haven’t used any sealant/caulk on the tub to wall seam and haven’t had a single comeback. Different shops/ different techniques I guess.

[sourdough]

Mine has attachments to the walls for the shower walls. The base attaches to the floor and the walls sit inside the raised edges of the base. No caulk, no adhesive....and, no leaks.

The RV isn't a S&B and those techniques don't work on a fixture that is constantly moving....and has to move, without being permanently attached to other items moving in a different plane. I would be suspect of the remedy.

[chuckster57]

Normal installation is the base is screwed to the wall, high enough on the lip that the walls will cover them. Strips of double sided tape on the back of the walls and plastic “rivets” in matching color to secure the wall panel.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Normal installation is the base is screwed to the wall, high enough on the lip that the walls will cover them. Strips of double sided tape on the back of the walls and plastic “rivets” in matching color to secure the wall panel.

Forgot the double sided tape. It reminds me I have it every time I get in, push the wall, it sticks and then releases

[cvin]

I was in and out trying to find the rivet things all day , but thinking back believe the long “back” portion where the leak was only had two screws and maybe at least one of them were just in that thin wall material
My guy did go back and find actual wood and screwed in at least two different places on the lip of the tub into wood vs the thin, flexible wall....
there was a place on the long wall like that and one on the opposite wall from the faucet

The one video repair i saw on youtube the tub was caulked to the wall

We did not caulk it until the repair shop said they did caulk it all

There was double sided tape on everything and we redid the tape everywhere

So if the caulk is not needed and cracks in theory it should not matter

The tub nor the surround were cracked, the tub seems slighter higher into the surround part in an area or two but nothing major

Bottom line it was leaking up over the lip and the way it was in there wasnt working

You could easily see the tracks of water where the tub had leaked over the side and down the side of the tub right in the middle of the long wall

Sourdough how to you know how yours is put together if you havent had to take it apart?

And this stuff about everything needing to move, my cabinets etc are not loose and moving, if all of that was loose the microwave would work itself out of the wall...

It may not be caulked but it has to screwed or bolted in tight, at least i hope so

[cvin]

Chuckster when you are installing these showers i am guessing this is a repair right? So why are you having to repair them?